With Wasteland 2, the impressive lineage of the series has been preserved but modernized for the fans of today. Immerse yourself in tactical turn-based combat, RPG-style character advancement and customization, and deep choices that affect the narrative and memorable cast of characters.

2 Ιουλίου

We wanted to get an update out to you all before the 4th of July holiday weekend, and have a few things we thought we'd share with you.

First, in case you missed it - in our last update, we announced that we're renaming our upcoming version of Wasteland 2 for PC and consoles as Wasteland 2 Director's Cut. It is still coming free to all owners on PC in late summer this year! Be sure to check out this little trailer we put together:

The coolest thing we want to share today is a collaboration we started with Jackson Robinson, a Kickstarter veteran who has successfully funded and delivered on numerous projects on this service. His specialty is creating unique, themed, high-quality playing cards. Several of us backed his earlier projects, so when he pitched us the idea of doing a Wasteland-themed deck of cards, inspired by the story and characters of our game, we felt that it was a natural fit.

We were ecstatic to see this Kickstarter hit its funding goal in just a couple of hours after launch, but there's four weeks left for you to jump on board and get this unique collectable! Remember that these cards are limited-edition, and won't be available after the Kickstarter campaign, so get them now while they're hot!

Wasteland 2 Director's Cut Media Update

The Director's Cut edition of Wasteland 2 is progressing well. We are running on all cylinders testing, polishing, and taking it through the required rigmarole for release. This includes the fun stuff – making sure the game is balanced and plays great – to the less exciting but still necessary, such as getting updated age ratings, re-doing the manual, creating new box art, and the big one, console certification.

We'll have more in-depth coverage as we get closer to release, but we wanted to share some brand-new screenshots and a few new clips from the trenches.

We can't direct embed the images, so click the links below to see them. Enjoy!

You may have noticed that the name of the game has been changed, and some of you might also notice that we were previously using the name Game of the Year Edition.

Why the change? We feel that this new title more accurately reflects the contents of the update. Rather than just being a repackaging of the same old content, the Director's Cut name indicates the sheer scope of the changes involved. With many all-new features that you have requested, overhauled graphics, an upgrade to a new game engine, and tons of new recorded voice-over, not to mention controller support – Wasteland 2 Director's Cut is truly the definitive version of the game.

And of course, anyone who currently owns Wasteland 2 will get the Director’s Cut on PC, Mac and Linux for FREE!

For the full details, please check out our latest backer update on Kickstarter:

Κριτικές

“Along with Bard's Tale, Wasteland was one of the games that made me want to make games. I was privileged that Brian gave me the opportunity to work on Fallout, and I have missed those games. Getting to play Wasteland 2 is like getting to return to your past and finding out that it is still as fun as you remember.”
Feargus Urquhart/CEO Obsidian & Lead Designer Fallout 2

Ψηφιακή έκδοση πολυτελείας

An incredible digital concept art book showcasing many of the world's characters and environments.

The extras can be found in your Steam installation location for Wasteland 2. (e.g. C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\common\Wasteland 2)

Σχετικά με αυτό το παιχνίδι

Welcome back to the Citadel, Rangers! After 2.5 years in development and with the help of over 70,000 Kickstarter backers, the Wasteland's hellish landscape is now waiting for you to make your mark… or die trying.

Awarded Game of the Year by PCWorld, Wasteland 2 is the direct sequel to 1988’s Wasteland, the first-ever post-apocalyptic computer RPG and the inspiration behind the Fallout series. Until Wasteland, no other CRPG had ever allowed players to control and command individual party members for tactical purposes or given them the chance to make moral choices that would directly affect the world around them. Wasteland was a pioneer in multi-path problem solving, dripping in choice and consequence and eschewing the typical one-key-per-lock puzzle solving methods of its peers, in favor of putting the power into players’ hands to advance based on their own particular play style.

The Wasteland series impressive and innovative lineage has been preserved at its very core, but modernized for the fans of today with Wasteland 2. Immerse yourself in turn-based tactical combat that will test the very limits of your strategy skills as you fight to survive a desolate world where brute strength alone isn’t enough to save you. Deck out your Ranger squad with the most devastating weaponry this side of the fallout zone and get ready for maximum destruction with the RPG-style character advancement and customization that made the first Wasteland so brutal. Save an ally from certain death or let them perish – the choice is yours, but so are the consequences.

Key Features

One Size Does Not Fit All: Don't feel like finding the key for a door? Why not try a Rocket Launcher! Basically the same thing... right?

Enhanced Classic RPG Game Play: Classic RPG game play ideas updated with modern design philosophies.

Decision Making... with Consequences: With both short and long term reactivity to the players choices, every decision matters in the outcome of the story.

Huge & Customizable: Dozens of hours of game. Hundreds of characters. Thousands of variations on your Rangers' appearance. Over 150 weapons. Dozens of skills. Even the UI can be customized.

TL:DR buy Fallout 1&2 and play those instead; they are similar, superior games and cost a fraction of the price.

I backed this on kickstarter and was very enthusiastic about playing the finished product. I loved all the old Interplay games back in the day, and I thought that a modern remake of Wasteland that stayed faithful to old-school RPGs couldn't possibly go wrong.

It's a real shame that Wasteland 2 turned out to be such a slog. The 'tactical' combat is basic and repetitive, with no tactics beyond making sure you have your best weapons equipped, and focusing fire on each enemy until they are dead. This game is supposedly the spiritual successor to the early Fallouts but the combat is actually a step backwards from them. No aimed shot limb cripples, torso-shredding burst fire crits, stuns, knockdowns, or anything beyond hitting and subtracting hitpoints - headshots are available but they just take a bigger chunk of HP. There is a half-hearted cover mechanic but if you don't use it, it doesn't matter. Even when levelling up later in the game and getting better armour and weapons the combat is still the same grind.

Levels are certainly sprawling, but are mostly full of monotonous fights and heavily trapped/locked boxes (that usually turn out to be full of jokey 'flavour' junk items). Fight, help locals, move plot forward a bit, travel to next area. Not necessarily a bad formula but it is the same over and over, coupled with the incredibly dull combat. Text pops up for dialogue and to describe things happening but it appears in a tiny box at the corner of the screen which can't display much of it at once - which seems bizarre when there is so much reading to be done, and very little voice acting.

The setting is interesting and the plot is well written with some genuine laughs and memorable characters to encounter. But when they come wrapped up in such an unpolished, uninspiring package with such ancient production values, it's very difficult to appreciate them.

*Contains minor spoilers*Well... I went all the way from loving this game into hating it and then to accepting it and finally to like it. So, it turned out that:

1. This is NOT a Fallout1/2. It's more like Fallout Tactics with FO 1/2-ish endings.2. You can solve most of your problems 2 ways: using speech or lockpicking skills. Or both.3. Devs thought "We will make 3 kinds of speech and 3 kinds of lockpicking skills. It will create so many choices". Well, actually no, it's still 2 ways.4. Assault rifles are most useful weapons in the world. All other weapons are not worth your skillpoints.5. Melee specialists will do nothing first half of the game except getting hurt all the time. During second half they should learn how to use assault rifles.6. Throwing weapons do not require a skill. Even monkey could throw a grenade, right?7. You can never tell from the view of your team which armor they are wearing. Cause stockings with garment are more important in the wasteland then power armor, right?8. Energy weapons do very little damage to unarmored enemies. Please read this line again to understand the level of absurd.9. Main story quest deviated very little from "the search for GECK". Actually you'll look for 2 types of chemicals.10. You can dig all the graves in the world. No one cares.

I could go on with this list, but I think you get the picture by now. Not to mention clumsy 3d-models with ugly skin and absolutely unnecessary sims-like character editor (can give you nightmares). It's mostly poor choice of engine. But if you like a good tactics with turn-based combat in a postapocalyptic setting - you'll buy this game. It will punish you in order to make you start another playthrough. And you'll learn to accept it "as is". Like I did.

Wasteland 2 is an isometric party-based role-playing game set in a post-apocalyptic southeastern United States.

The Great:

- Deep and expansive story that starts quickly and expands out in numerous branching paths- Real player choices that change both the progression of the story and how gameplay mechanics play out (can avoid combat using conversation)- Incredible amount of quality content as the story expands to tremendous length and allows for deep exploration

The Good:

- The combat system is of good quality and gives much variety and satisfactory tactical options

The Bad:

- RPG progression skills and traits are locked once selected which can cause significant potential problems for new/inexperienced players- Some of the areas are notably barren or seemingly unfinished (e.g. all the random encounters that are nearly exact repeats of each other)

Conclusion:

Wasteland 2 should be on everyone's short list for engrossing stories in RPGs.

I backed it on Kickstarter, I'm a huge fan of the Baldur's gate series, Fallout 2 to New Vegas, Diablo, and many other RPGs, and think Wasteland 2 was absolutely terrible.

With 40+ hours of game-time I feel like I have a pretty substantial view on Wasteland 2, and in the end, I think the devs just don't understand what actually makes a game ***fun***:

* Walking across an entire area cleared of all enemies to get back to the world map is not fun.* Holding back on my attributes because I might run into some challenge requiring more lockpicking is not fun.* Being interrupted on the world map for nearly always boring-as-♥♥♥♥ random encounters is not fun. (Seriously though, couldn't you make some unique random encounters that are more than nameless badies, or stop spamming me with encounters when I have a 100% chance of running?)* Save scumming is not fun. Holy ♥♥♥♥, 50% of my time is spent save scumming. Want to open a safe? Save scum. Want to take apart a weapon and need a certain piece? Save scum. Starting a hard battle and need to hit an enemy with a hard-to-hit headshot? Save scum.

"Oh but just don't save scum and accept the consequences" is the worst excuse I can think of. It is simply human nature to shoot for the best outcome; failing at a percentage based challenge we know we can avoid by save scumming just feels bad. It feels almost equally as ♥♥♥♥♥♥ to waste time trying to get the desired outcome, but still feels better than getting ♥♥♥♥-all for your effort by accepting your ♥♥♥♥ luck.

New Vegas did this right: If you had the attributes to attempt a challenge it was pass fail. There was no reason to save scum,; save scumming wasn't even an option! Diablo did this right: If you exit the game, you save the game; you aren't even able to save scum! How did the devs mess up this crucial component in 2014?

**Graphics and Camera**

The graphics themselves are only OK. I don't expect them to be ground-breaking on an indie game. With that said, Fallout 1/2 and Baldur's gate still stand the test of time because every background is a literal work of art. Wasteland 2 simply looks, well, OK.

The real issue is that the 3D camera mechanism SUCKS. The compass is constantly off in some unexpected orientation, things are often hidden from view, and the map system is painful at best. The landscape is so bland and monotonous that you can't tell where you are from simply looking around. Even after 40+ hours of game time I still get lost unless constantly looking at the map and re-orienting the compass. Even Baldur's gate, a game made in the late 90's, had user-placable map-markers, and BG 2 had pre-placed markers on top of that so you could tell where the ♥♥♥♥ you were.

On top of the confusing camera and map, there is almost NO quick travel. Why do I have to walk across the entire prison map or Ranger Citadel to get in and out!? How does that enhance my experience? How is that enjoyable? It certainly doesn't make the game any harder, it just wastes more of our time.

**Combat**

Combat is OK; there is some element of strategy, and action point management is mildly interesting. That said . . it could really use more variety. Games like Diablo and the BG series had so much variety with spells and skills. Fallout 3 and New Vegas had the VATS system, stealth, and live combat. Wasteland 2 is just a throwback to Fallout 1/2, which is fine on it's own, but 15+ years later they couldn't think of anything new?

On top of this, the lack of pause and coordination before a fight is maddening. In baldur's gate you could issue tasks to each member of your party to do unique and interesting actions . . you know . . LIKE A REAL AMBUSH!? In wasteland 2, all you can do is shoot the ♥♥♥♥ out of one person. Hell, even fallout 1 and 2 let you go into VATS mode!

When I win a fight in Wasteland 2, I don't feel very GOOD about it. There simply isn't enough strategy to actually make much of a difference in a fight. The real decider of outcome seems to rely on your weapons, and the enemies decisions. If anything, I feel like I should go grind for experience to have a better chance, and that just makes me sad about wasting more time to progress in the game.

**The Attribute System**

Fargo talked all about making characters with specialties but absolutely failed. Getting by with a character who has under 8 intelligence is a pain in the ♥♥♥ because you miss so many skill-based opportunities. None of the other attributes influence your skills, so they are all a depressing mix of combat-stats. Charisma only needs to be high enough to pick up companions, and you're left ♥♥♥♥♥♥ off if you put it too low to include one. It all just feels like a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ min-maxing formula: "At least 8 int, at least X charisma for these party members, and whatever mix gets the best AP for the rest of the stats while retaining a reasonable combat initiative. All this tailored to the weapon (higher CI for close-range weapons)".

Because the stats do not influence skills, they all do practically the same thing. Nobody is actually specialized because making a character with too low of AP or combat initiative makes them near useless. Anyone used to a little bit of customization in RPGs will just make everyone a bland average that optimizes as much AP as possible.

**The writing/acting**

Good god, I don't know if it is the writing or the actors, but this ♥♥♥♥ is cringe-worthy the whole way through. From the insanely clean live-actors (really? No dirt on a DESERT ranger?) to the how-in-the-♥♥♥♥-am-I-supposed-to-suspend-my-disbelief voice acting, it is just painful. Did anyone actually enjoy the live-action video? Couldn't that money have been spent better elsewhere? Does Vargas talk like any real person you've ever heard?

And finally . .

**Side Quests**

Rails nomad is the only place in all of Arizona that is full of quests you don't need to do to finish the game. All other standalone areas either have only a handful of trivial sidequests. The main areas themselves have many trivial side quests . . but none have any *substance*. The nuke silo is about the only substantial sidequest I can think of, and even that is pretty damn trivial in length. Compare to things like Fallouts 1 - New Vegas or BG, where there are side-quests spanning multiple areas, and MANY areas at least as intricate as Rails Nomad. All the side quests in Wasteland 2 just feel like shallow time-sinks.

As a tactics game, W2 falls short of combat depth both in party customization and the variety of encounters. As an RPG, it feels more like a slog through dialog screens than an interactive story. When not in combat or dialog, you'll be dragging characters around maps playing scavenger hunt for the loot objective or NPC of the minute, navigating obstacles that make no sense whatever. Objects that share graphics and description will have entirely different behaviors. Story points where important interactions will happen often lack context and mechanical transparency. Chunks of the game remain unfinished, even after the graphical upgrade.

I would be unhappy with this product, even if I did not have the high expectations of something with Brian Fargo's name on it.

Technically, Wasteland 2 is an upgrade on the Fallout series, but rarely feels like it. It lacks graphical style and doesn't even come up to the interface standards of the original Deus Ex. Either the engine or the execution of the game make it a liability to even my system, running no better today than it did in Beta. Many of the advantages of the cRPG genre rely on the computer to do what it does best: track a complicated RPG ruleset rapidly so you don't have to. It's why the transition to real time play in Fallout Tactics, Fallout 3, Skyrim, Dark Souls and so many other RPGs went over so well. Even the Final Fantasy series dispensed with clunky, overt turns and tiles more than a decade ago now.

I cannot explain the majority of the design choices made for W2. It plays to the worst of the video game strengths and offers none of the depth of tabletop gaming in return.

For all the nostalgia calls to Wasteland 1, I don't think this is the expansion of that story most players would hope for. Recruitable NPCs with connections to the previous games have some character development, but your own foursome remain blank slates in the worst sense. Fallout Tactics had more recruitable NPC's than you could shake a stick at, beyond the offered starting characters and the option to produce your own in-depth one from scratch and all of them made up a core of your team. Here, we just have four optimized blanks carrying optional NPC's to the story conclusion, running a relay race of side quests to pad the already nasty length.

A fairly brisk playthrough of Wasteland 2 can run you twenty hours and in that time? Expect no attachment, no surprises and no payoff.

There's a clear reason why Kickstarter projects like Wasteland 2 fall short of the mark: No oversight, no second opinions are required to make them. For all the complaints about rushed and unfinished mainstream games, there is always a dialogue between a dispassionate management and the production teams that are too close to see what they're really producing. At no point was the Wasteland 2 team going to change their idea about their inventory system, combat mechanics or the player character team because a fan said so. Fans were there to pay and to test the game and give feedback about how it was decorated, not how it was built. They made this game possible and that's why it recieves so little criticism: Because die hard fans would have to take responsibility.

Wasteland 2 is the definition of one hand washes the other: A core fanbase that will drown out coherent criticism combined with a development team with no reason to identify mistakes, let alone learn from them. One side will bank on the products of a better business model, the other will insist all is well as long as they get more: one more game they ostensible asked for, one more game they wouldn't look at twice if it didn't have their cult brand insignia on the side of it.

Before you buy this game, write down the reasons you think you're buying it. A love of tactical RPGs, post apocalyptic stories and exploration? Look elsewhere. Find where these things have been done well. Give your time to the work of people who still have a pulse, instead of a twenty-year stale pet project. Wasteland 2 is not the long awaited item from a master craftsman. It's that half-hearted novel that's been sitting in your uncle's attic since bellbottoms. It was passable then and mediocre now.